Living a Modern, Healthy Life

Manage Stress: Safety

Manage Stress with Health: Safety

Keeping your body in healthy, good working order is highly important and, as a whole, can be accomplished with proper use and balance of food, exercise, and sleep. Those three things, however, are not your only concern. You need to keep yourself safe – mentally, physically, and emotionally. If you feel safe, your stress levels will automatically be reduced…

Keeping your body in good working order with food, exercise, and sleep is very important, but keeping yourself safe – both physically and mentally – is also key. If you are in the best shape in the world, it won’t make too much of a difference if you don’t take care with your wellbeing. Of course, we don’t want you being paranoid either. You need to keep situations, activities, and people checked and in balance. If you have friends who are questionable, or use alcohol or drugs (over-the-counter or otherwise), be sure to use moderation with these riskier activities. Of course, we do not recommend using drugs or alcohol, but would like to remind you to be cautionary if you should choose to partake in them.

If you feel safe, your stress will automatically be reduced. Crime is a part of every society – in some way or another. Of course, the statistically safer of a neighborhood you live in, the lower the crime potential would be. On college campuses, alcohol- and drug-related offenses usually occur more frequently than other types of crimes. If you or someone you know is headed off to college, you could check the online site www.securityoncampus.org for a list of links to statistics arranged by school. Other helpful information can be found there as well. Part of keeping safe is making intelligent choices. Listed below are some practical measures you could take to prevent yourself from getting into situations you would rather avoid.

Be aware of safety issues.
Make yourself aware of your surroundings. Sometimes it’s easy to ignore everything going on around you, but it is smart to not be completely oblivious either. Watch out for particular issues in areas you regularly spend your time – such as problematic areas, celebrations that can get out of hand, and bad habits that create unsafe environments. If you keep an eye out for these types of situations, you can steer clear of problems and work to prevent them.

Avoid situations that present clear dangers.
If you know that a particular location, person, or situation presents certain dangers to you, you should take care to avoid the scenario. For instance, don’t walk or exercise alone at night, especially in isolated areas. The buddy system is a great way to keep yourself a bit more secure. Also, try not to work or study alone in a building. If you are in a public place or have a group you are working with, then it is often safer than flying solo. If a person looks suspicious, contact someone who can help. Often having someone you trust close by will help prevent unwarranted attention and make you feel more at ease.

Avoid drugs or overuse of alcohol.
As you probably are very well aware of, use of drugs and alcohol can really impair a person’s judgment and reflexes. This can make someone much more vulnerable in any circumstance – especially an unsafe one – leaving a person more open to things like assault. Driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs or while impaired in any way is also extremely dangerous. With lowered reflex time and a lowered ability to make good decisions, it makes your chances of reacting to or perceiving things going on – like traffic – go down significantly. It is also important to not ride with someone who is impaired either. If you find yourself in a situation where you need a ride and nobody nearby is stable enough to help out, call someone you trust who can pick you up and take you safely home.

Avoid people who make you uneasy.
The term “listen to your gut” really isn’t bad advice. It is usually safe to give heed to your internal feeling if you feel uncomfortable in a situation or with a person. If someone gives you bad feelings, avoid situations in which you’re alone together. If, for some reason, this is hard to do, speak to someone like a boss, instructor, or friend – especially if you feel threatened in some way. Again, don’t be paranoid – but listen to yourself. You know yourself better than pretty much anyone else. If you don’t feel safe, you are the one in charge of keeping yourself safe. Feeling safe will greatly reduce your stress level.

Be cautious about giving out personal information online.
In recent years, the internet has really exploded with the type of activities you use it for. If you’re on our site reading this, it’s probable you have made purchases online and maybe do the majority of your bills and banking online. There are a lot of sites that hold and display your information such as dating sites and social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. However, despite the amount of these types of sites and their popularity, it is very important to be careful what you post on your accounts as far as text and photos. Don’t divulge sensitive information like exact address for your home, school, or work locations. Don’t post specific dates and times of when you will be somewhere – except for the viewing of people you know personally only. If you feel harassed at any time by email or IM, you should contact someone such as an advisor, counselor, boss, or trusted friend who can help you. Don’t be afraid to seek out feeling comfortable. Remember that feeling safe will help you manage your stress better.

That being said, there are lots of ways to keep yourself safe. Avoid circumstances, elements, locations, and people that are bad for you and make you feel in any way uneasy. Removing the questionability of safety will seriously help you begin managing your stress. If you can, keep away from areas higher in crime and make yourself aware of your surroundings. Don’t be afraid to be cautious. Remember, it’s your job to take care of your body and it’s also your job to protect it. Keep your safety first, always.

So, when all is said and done, remember that everyone has some amount of stress in their lives. It could be a collection of everyday stresses or a few higher level stress changes or events. Regardless, stress can take its toll on a person, particularly if it’s not properly managed. Stress can really affect how people behave, work, sleep, or interact with others. There is a lot of variance in how people deal with their different stresses. Nonetheless, there are some basic things about stress and how to deal with it that remain the same. Focusing on health can help you manage stress.

In this and the article sections previous, we have gone over four areas we suggest you look into to help with managing stress by focusing on your physical health:

Food

Exercise

Sleep

Staying Safe

Hopefully you can take our suggestions and springboard into the right direction for helping you manage your stress. Focusing on your physical health is one of the major ways to help reduce your stress levels. We encourage you to do some research on your own and add options of your own to our lists. Lastly, don’t be shy about letting us at UltimateHealthTrends.com know if you would like to see more of these types of articles. So, step back, take a deep breath, and relax!

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